


Semester Three

by Lithal



Series: Dorks in University [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Background Kuroken - Freeform, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, It's okay Kise hold on, M/M, Oblivious Kasamatsu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 04:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15134843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithal/pseuds/Lithal
Summary: Kasamatsu et al's further adventures in university. This ended up way longer than expected.





	Semester Three

Kasamatsu walked into the kitchen to grab some breakfast before he headed out to campus for the first events of frosh week. Kuroo was already in the kitchen, dressed in the bright blue rep suit of the faculty of the science and slathering strawberry jam on buttered toast.

“You’re not in your suit yet,” Kuroo observed.

“First event for the engineers doesn’t start until later. You scientists are crazy,” Kasamatsu answered, putting a bagel in the toaster and grabbing one of the jars of cream cheese from the fridge.

Kuroo hummed. “It’s the fumes from all the chemicals we use in our labs.”

“I bet it is.”

“Would you mind dragging Kenma to some of the events with you?”

“He’s an engineer?”

Kuroo nodded. “I feel like he’s just going to stay inside all day. And hey, it’s a chance for you two to bond, which would be good now that we all live together.”

Feeling a little apprehensive, Kasamatsu agreed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Alright, I gotta run if I’m going to make it on time for the ice-breakers. Everyone hates those.” Kuroo grinned and walked out of the kitchen with the rest of his toast.

Since Kasamatsu didn’t have to be on campus until eleven, he decided to watch some Netflix till then. At ten-thirty, he changed into his rep suit and thought about waking Kenma up, but then decided to put it off for another fifteen minutes in the hopes that he’d wake up by himself. His phone buzzed with a text message from Kise, full of emoticons that meant he was excited about something that Kasamatsu would probably be able to figure it out by the end of the day after deciphering all the texts that would arrive in pieces throughout the day. There was no point trying to answer just yet, so he put his phone away.

He got up to wake Kenma up when he heard a very loud alarm blare, which cut off abruptly with a thud. He figured Kenma had either thrown the alarm at something or had thrown something at the alarm. In either case, it had worked. For a minute Kasamatsu thought he had gone back to sleep, but the door eventually opened, and a yawning Kenma trudged to the bathroom.

“Hey, do you want to go to some of the frosh events with me?” Kasamatsu asked when Kenma emerged from the bathroom. Kenma looked at him.

“You’re an eng rep,” Kenma said, taking in the rep suit. He already knew Kasamatsu was an engineer. Probably.

“Yes. They’re giving out the faculty bags soon. The engineers always get pretty cool stuff,” Kasamatsu said. “There’s a bunch of events planned for all the freshmen to get to know each other.”

“Kuro put you up to this,” Kenma said. It wasn’t a question.

“Uh…”

“I’m not participating in any ice-breakers,” Kenma said, grabbing some toast to nibble on from the kitchen.

“Oh,” Kasamatsu said, surprised, which made Kenma narrow his eyes at him before he went in to change.

After walking past the reps handing out the faculty bags so Kenma could grab one, Kasamatsu went to meet the group of first years he had been assigned for the day. He told Kenma that he could either stay with Kasamatsu’s group or go join his own.

“I think I’ll stay,” Kenma said, after the group exchanged introductions and it became clear that they were an excitable bunch and Kasamatsu would probably end up with a headache dealing with them. Kasamatsu suspected that Kenma enjoyed watching him get frustrated, since he made no effort to mingle with the others and was clearly not there to make friends.

“Okay, now that we kind of know each other, we’re going to go around campus, and then have some fun cheer stuff so you can learn all the school cheers in existence,” Kasamatsu informed them. Cheers that they would never hear again unless they became reps, but they probably knew that already. Maybe.

He led them around campus, with most of them getting distracted by everything, and one of them making bad puns the entire time. It didn’t help that whenever they passed by another group of students, the reps had to break into whatever faculty or inter-faculty cheer applied to the situation. Kasamatsu regretted ever applying to be a rep, particularly on losing his voice after the unnecessarily long cheering session. This was only the first day.

“Right,” he croaked after the two and a half hours of cheering were done. He would love to have words with whoever had allotted times for the different events. Right now though, he really needed a drink of water. “You’re free to go have fun at other stuff going on around campus.” He wasn’t sure what was actually happening the rest of the day. Probably some of those ‘how to take notes’ and ‘how to study’ lectures that they had done last year. Apparently, those were a recurring theme. Maybe he should’ve gone to them last year. His job for the rest of the day was to hang around on campus to catch (and help) lost first years. He was pretty sure the other engineering reps were going to get drunk at night, but he wasn’t really tempted just yet. Although if other first years he had to deal with were anything like his group today, he’d probably end up getting drunk pretty soon.

“You going to any of the lectures?” he asked Kenma after swallowing some water. He was the only one of the first years still with him. The others had scattered as soon as he had told them they could, and frankly, he was both glad and concerned. One of them had somehow managed to lock himself into one of the study rooms in the basement of the math building when they had passed through it during the tour, and had only been discovered after another first year had informed Kasamatsu about the whole thing, thirty minutes after the guy had locked himself in. Kasamatsu still didn’t know when the guy had separated himself from the group to go explore the basement. He should bring up smaller group assignments for each rep before some idiot first year got hurt.

Kenma was typing away on his phone, probably texting someone. “No, they sound boring,” he answered without looking up. “You should probably answer Ryouta’s messages soon. He’s been complaining.”

“You two text each other?” Kasamatsu managed to get out, surprised.

“Yes,” Kenma said. “I’m going home. Bye.”  

So much for bonding. Kasamatsu shook his head and headed to the station where all the snacks for the reps were. The engineers’ station was between the one set up for the scientists, with boxes of warm pizza, and the one set up for the nurses, with delicious-looking wraps. The engineers, however, were going healthy this year—at least during the day—and their snacks consisted of fresh fruit with either water or pure fruit juice. Kasamatsu grabbed a peach and a banana with some mango juice. He regretted not having a heavier breakfast and considered stealing a slice of pizza from the scientists or a sandwich from the nurses. He bit into his peach and grimaced; it tasted bland and stale. The banana wasn’t much better. The coordinator had probably acquired the fruits a dime a dozen from some store that was probably about to throw them out. He really hoped they weren’t going to get old fruit for a snack every day.

 

Kasamatsu was exhausted when he returned to the apartment that night. There had been a lot of lost first years looking for directions, particularly for the toilets, since the university inexplicably lacked appropriate signage that would point people towards them. He had also had to call the emergency first aid team a couple of times: once when he had seen a first year faint, and once when a first year missed a step and ended up busting a lip on a concrete staircase.

“You want food?” Kuroo called out from the kitchen and Kasamatsu noticed the smell of food filling the apartment. He was surprised he had missed it, considering how hungry he was.

“Yes. I’ve only had fruit all day,” he answered, pouring himself a drink from the kitchen.

“Yeah, I saw your snack station. It was pretty sad,” Kuroo answered sympathetically. “I’m making spaghetti, it’ll be ready in a bit.”

Kasamatsu nodded and took a quick shower. His phone had died sometime in the evening. He plugged it in and waited for it to turn back on. Message notifications popped up, but he decided to check them later, after he had had some food and replenished some energy. By the time he went back to living room, there were three plates of food on the table and Kuroo and Kenma were already seated.

“C’mon,” Kuroo beckoned.

Kasamatsu complied, yawning. The food looked good, but he would probably have taken anything at this point. “Thanks for the food,” he said, and dug in. It tasted pretty good too. “This is good.”

“Yeah? Thanks,” Kuroo said with a grin. “Kenma was telling me your group gave you some grief today.”

Kasamatsu snorted. “Yeah. One of them managed to lock himself up in the MH basement. Still don’t know when he split from the group.”

“One of the mine kept telling me about school mascots, complete with their histories and everything. She said she never could find out why our mascot is called Goosey.”

“She has a point. It’s a fox,” Kenma said.

“To be fair, I’d rather have Goosey the Fox rather than Tweed Ox or Vis Eel,” Kuroo said. “I still don’t know what those mean. I think she tried to explain it,” he added with a shrug.

They shared more grievances and then Kenma told them he would clean up, so they could get ready for bed. Kasamatsu quickly brushed his teeth and grabbed his phone from the desk. He had fifty messages from Kise, all of which boiled down to Kise telling him that he was in a new teen fashion magazine and that he didn’t like one of the new first years in the basketball club because he felt he didn’t like him. Rolling his eyes, Kasamatsu sent a quick reply telling him to not be childish towards the new first years, because that was probably what was happening. Kise replied with an emoji Kasamatsu had long since learned to recognize as Kise’s pouting face in text form. Another text quickly followed, asking when Kise could come visit the apartment. Kasamatsu replied by telling him to focus on his studies, switched his phone to silent, and went to bed.  

 

By Friday, Kasamatsu was thoroughly sick of frosh week, and regretted ever letting Kuroo talk him into applying. Struggling into his suit, he mentally apologized to whoever had actually been enthusiastic about frosh week and hadn’t ended up being given a spot because he’d taken it.

 _I’m never listening to you again,_ he texted Kuroo before he walked into the kitchen for breakfast, where Kenma was pouring himself some juice. Kasamatsu put some bread in the toaster and checked his phone to find a kissy face from Kuroo in reply to his earlier text. He could practically see Kuroo smirking while sending the text.

“Ryouta’s staying over tonight,” Kenma said suddenly.

“What, why?” Kasamatsu asked, startled.

“He’s coming to the concert with us,” Kenma answered. Kasamatsu supposed ‘us’ meant him and Kuroo. He was surprised that Kenma was going to the concert, but wisely chose to keep that surprise to himself. “He said you’d refused to go with him. He sounded pretty put out,” Kenma added, a little accusingly, Kasamatsu thought. He racked his brains to try to recall when that had happened but came up blank.

“I don’t remember refusing to go with him,” he said, brows furrowed.

Kenma held out his hand and kept it there until Kasamatsu realized he was asking for his phone. He handed it over and watched Kenma type something before he handed it back. Kasamatsu looked at the screen and saw it open to his and Kise’s text conversation, with the word ‘concert’ highlighted in one of the texts Kise had sent him. Kise really had asked him about the concert, and Kasamatsu had answered with one of his standard _don’t focus on useless things, brat_ replies. He wasn’t sure he’d even read the message properly. Maybe he should start doing that.

“Ah,” he said.

“Ah,” Kenma said flatly. “So now he’s going with us.”

“Do you not want him to go with you? Do you dislike him or something?” Kasamatsu asked. Kenma sighed and muttered something under his breath that Kasamatsu couldn’t quite catch. He felt as if he had just miserably failed a test.

“I don’t text people I dislike,” Kenma said. He considered something, and then said, “You could join us.”

Kasamatsu picked up on the reluctance with which the invitation was delivered. “You really don’t sound like you want me to say yes,” he pointed out.

Kenma rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t ask if that was true, trust me,” he added. 

Kasamatsu believed him. “I’m curious about how you and Kise started texting each other,” he said, spreading jam on his toast.

“He was curious, so he asked me for my number,” Kenma answered.

Kasamatsu frowned. “Curious about what?” he asked.

“Idiots.”

Kasamatsu was confused, but Kenma didn’t seem like he was in the mood to elaborate, so he didn’t press. He supposed he could go to the concert with them. He would keep an eye on Kise and let Kenma and Kuroo enjoy themselves. It had been a while since he had seen Kise anyway, and it would be nice to talk to him in person about the new team. “I’ll go with you. Is he meeting us here or on campus?”

“We figured it’d be easier for him to find us here,” Kenma said.

Which was reasonable, Kasamatsu thought. Campus was probably going to be packed. He checked his phone for the time and saw that he was going to be late if he didn’t leave in the next thirty seconds.

“I have to run. Lock the door after me, please?” he said, hastily stuffing his keys in his pocket and running out the door, not waiting to see if Kenma actually locked the door.

Since it was the last day of frosh week, the events lined up for the day were just various closing ceremonies, which meant lots of yelling and cheering. Kasamatsu grimaced at the thought of losing his voice before it had fully recovered. Each faculty had its own little event planned. The faculty of engineering was bringing out robots and putting up a show with them. Which wasn’t very representative of the faculty at all, but who cared about that? Thankfully, he didn’t have to be a part of the actual performance, just the part where all the reps sang the faculty song. He’d just stand in the back and mumble along. Since engineering had one of the earlier spots for their event, he could relax and watch what the other faculties had prepared.

The robot show went as smoothly as one could expect. Meaning one of the robots had broken down at some point and for some reason the solution had been to dress one of the reps up in a clearly subpar robot costume and make them step in for the missing robot. It was amusing, at the very least, despite second-hand embarrassment.

Thankfully, an interfaculty effort had resulted in a really cool large-scale model of the university mascot, which allowed engineering to save face to some degree. Science was the last to go, and their performance included a very cheesy science parody of a popular song, followed by some very cool looking chemical reactions. Kuroo was one of the performers and looked like he was having the time of his life. Kasamatsu glanced around at the watching students and spotted Kenma among them, next to first year with the incessant puns. Pun Kid seemed to be chattering without pause, and Kenma was filming the performance. His nose was wrinkled and he looked thoroughly disgusted, but Kasamatsu couldn’t tell if the disgust was aimed at Pun Kid or the science reps.

The best thing about the end of frosh week was that the engineering reps finally got to eat something other than almost-rotten food. Kasamatsu enjoyed the pizza and wraps for all they were worth (which wasn’t much) and was full when he went back to the apartment to take a break before the concert. He was itching to get out of his suit so first years would stop trying to suck up to him. There were other people they’d be better off bothering if they wanted to get into a lab in their first summer, or whatever it was they were after. He wanted to forget about the suit until midterm season, when the reps would be required to put them back on and guide first years to their exam rooms while also cheering for them.

“Happy frosh is over?” Kuroo asked him with a smirk after he had changed out of the rep suit and tossed it into the laundry basket.

“Yeah. I’m not doing this again,” Kasamatsu answered. “I’m not cut out for this.”

“Actually, you were a pretty popular rep among the first years you interacted with,” Kuroo said. “I heard about it and I’m not even in the same faculty. The freshmen loved you.”

“Why?” Kasamatsu said, genuinely baffled.

Kuroo shrugged. “Must be the angry senpai charm,” he said.

Kasamatsu grimaced. “Please don’t say that again,” he said at the same time Kenma groaned and said, “Kuro, stop.”

“It’s true,” Kuroo said with a Cheshire grin. “In all seriousness though, you should consider doing it again.”

“I’ll see,” Kasamatsu said noncommittally. He doubted he’d change his mind.

“Ryouta’s here,” Kenma announced suddenly. “I’ll get him.”

Kasamatsu watched as Kenma tugged on his shoes and slipped out the front door. “I didn’t know they got along that well,” he commented, looking at Kuroo.

Kuroo shrugged. “Stranger friendships have been formed,” he said sagely.

Kasamatsu shook his head. “Yeah. You and Kenma being a prime example. Now that I think about it, Kise’s kind of like you. Maybe that’s why he and Kenma get along.”

“Hey, Kise and I are nothing alike,” Kuroo protested. “Except for being loud. That I admit.”

Kasamatsu decided now would be a good time to not say anything. It was nice being the one teasing for once. He glanced at his phone and saw a notification for an email. After he had replied to the email, he looked at the time. “Did they get lost on the way up?” he commented.

“Maybe they’re talking,” Kuroo said knowingly, just before the front door opened and Kise and Kenma entered the apartment.

“Senpai!” Kise said enthusiastically. “Kenma said you’re also going to the concert?”

“Yeah. It won’t do if you just bother them the entire time,” Kasamatsu answered.

“You’re the only one who thinks I’m a bother, senpai,” Kise said.

“That’s not true,” Kuroo said and laughed when Kise stuck out his tongue at him.

“We have time before the concert so Ryouta and I are going to play a video game,” Kenma said. “…you can join if you want, I guess,” he said as an afterthought.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Kuroo said. “We’ll just watch you beat him.” He settled on the floor so Kenma could comfortably lean back into him while he played the game. Kasamatsu watched Kise give them a strange look before he settled down with his controller. It was an arcade fighting game Kasamatsu had never heard about before. Which wasn’t all that surprising since he rarely ever played video games.

Kenma picked his characters very quickly, but Kise spent some time hovering over a few different ones for his last pick. To Kasamatsu’s amusement, he ended up picking a character who reminded him of Kise when he came onto the screen to fight.

“Wow, you’re really bad at this,” Kasamatsu commented as Kise’s character took a fifteen-hit combo.

“Senpai, shhh!” Kise snapped, furiously mashing buttons. Which evidently did nothing for him, because Kenma’s character killed his off with a spectacular special move. Kise let out a frustrated growl as they went back to the character selection screen. He picked new characters this time, and still got his ass handed to him. Getting increasingly frustrated, Kise kept up for six games, not winning a single round.

“Kasamatsu, why don’t you play a few rounds with him?” Kuroo suggested, holding out Kenma’s controller to him. Kasamatsu slid onto the floor between Kise and the other two and took the controller. He picked the character that reminded him of Kise, and then picked two random ones.

“I’ve never played this before,” he commented as the game started. Not knowing what he was doing, he pressed random buttons using Arcade-Kise. To everyone’s surprise, particularly his own, he somehow hit a special move and finished Kise off, winning the match. The look of utter betrayal on Kise’s face was so amusing that he reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Senpai!” Kise whined, his face a little pink. “I thought you said you’ve never played before,” he accused.

“It’s true,” Kasamatsu said. “Maybe I picked an easy character to use.”

“Debatable,” Kenma said. “That special move isn’t easy to pull off. I’m surprised you got it by chance,” he added, doing nothing to help.

“Beginner’s luck,” Kasamatsu said. “Let’s get going or we won’t get good spots.” He put his controller down, stood up, and held out a hand to Kise. “C’mon, up you get,” he said. Kise looked a bit surprised but took his hand and allowed Kasamatsu to pull him to his feet. Kuroo and Kenma got up as well.

“That was informative,” Kuroo said and then smiled cryptically when Kasamatsu looked at him in question.

Leaving when they had turned out to be a good idea, since the front rows were already completely filled. Luckily, they were early enough to take spots fairly close to the stage. Kise already seemed to have forgotten his frustration on losing the game and looked excited.

“Why did you change your mind about coming, senpai?” Kise asked him suddenly.

This was awkward. “Er…I didn’t even know you had asked until Kenma told me,” Kasamatsu said sheepishly.

“What do you mean? I texted you,” Kise said.

Kasamatsu rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I didn’t actually read your message properly,” he said.

“Oh,” Kise said. “That’s okay, senpai,” he said brightly, but Kasamatsu could tell he wasn’t being sincere.

Kasamatsu felt a stab of irritation but forced it down because he was in the wrong. “You don’t have to pretend that me being a jerk is fine, okay? I’ll read your messages more carefully from now. Sorry.”

Kise looked surprised at Kasamatsu’s answer. He gave him a small but sincere smile. “Okay, senpai.”

There wasn’t time for much more talk because some random band from the school called Saned Zips took the stage before the actual concert started. Kasamatsu couldn’t neither pinpoint the genre of the song nor make out the lyrics. The only thing that was actually clear was the lead singer crooning “Tika” in a very flat voice. Kasamatsu assumed it was someone’s name.

“Damn, this band sucks,” Kise said, making a face. Normally Kasamatsu would have told him off for being rude, but Kise wasn’t wrong. They were really bad, and a lot of people were grimacing and edging as far away as they could without actually losing their spots for the real concert.

Thankfully, the band only played two songs before they were ushered off the stage and the Nori Quays took their place. Kasamatsu could feel the crowd around him relax and become excited as the band struck the first chords of their first song.

Kasamatsu had never head of the band before this, which was a shame. They sounded good and he was going to check out their music later. Kise seemed to be enjoying himself, if his loud cheers were anything to go by. Kasamatsu suppressed a smile at Kise’s excitement and focused on the music.

 

The semester started with a bang, meaning that Kasamatsu was amazed that he was drowning in work by the end of the first week and had already started losing sleep. Kuroo wasn’t faring any better with his courses and the two complained to each other about courseloads quite frequently. By the time the first month had gone by, both he and Kuroo had permanent dark circles under their eyes and were down to five hours or less of sleep each night because they needed to complete assignments and study for the first round of midterms, which were fast approaching. Kuroo was still tutoring Kise every week, and frankly Kasamatsu was amazed that both of them had stuck with it for so long. Kise must really want to bring his grades up.

Kasamatsu had dozed off while studying for his engineering math midterm the next day when he was woken by a tap on the shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Kise looking at him.

“Senpai, you should take a nap in your bed. Or at least lie down properly,” Kise told him.

“I don’t have time for naps,” Kasamatsu said tiredly. “I need to study for this damn midterm. Why are you here?”

“To study,” Kise answered.

“Doesn’t Kuroo have a big report due tomorrow?” Kasamatsu asked. He was positive Kuroo hadn’t slept properly for the past three days because he had been working on the report.

“He does,” Kenma said, padding into the living room. “So I’m going to tutor you today,” he said, addressing Kise. “I’m not as good a teacher as Kuro, so don’t expect too much,” he added. Then, looking at Kasamatsu, he said, “Kasamatsu-san, you should probably take a nap. Or a coffee.”

“Kenma and I can go get coffee,” Kise offered. “Kuroo-san probably wants some too.”

Kenma wrinkled his nose but otherwise didn’t protest being volunteered to go for a coffee run. “Kuro’s blood’s been replaced by coffee. He doesn’t need any more.”

“Okay, then we’ll just get some for senpai,” Kise said.

“Right,” Kenma said, rolling his eyes. Kasamatsu didn’t understand why he’d done that, but he was barely able to keep up with their conversation, so he didn’t think much of it. “Let’s go, then.”

Kasamatsu closed his eyes for a few seconds when they left, and when he opened them, Kise was extending a coffee towards him. He checked his phone for the time and realized he had dozed off for twenty minutes. He felt his blood pressure start to rise.

“Thanks,” he grunted, taking the coffee from Kise.

“Be careful, senpai, it’s…” Kise began when Kasamatsu took a big gulp of from the cup and forced himself to swallow the burning liquid. “…hot,” he heard Kise finish. “Senpai, are you okay?” Kise asked, concerned.

Kasamatsu nodded, grimacing against the unpleasant sensation in his throat. “Yeah, I’m good. Get studying and let me study too,” he said, taking a measured sip this time. Which didn’t really make a difference since his tongue had already been scalded.

“Good luck!” Kise said cheerfully, and followed Kenma to the dining table to study.

Kasamatsu turned his attention back to his own notes, trying to decipher some shorthand he’d used once and never again. He really needed to come up with consistent abbreviations. He had no idea what he had meant when he’d written down “EE” in his notes. Deciding that he had spent enough time on his notes and was more or less ready to move on, he pulled out the practice midterm to solve.

The first question made absolutely no sense to him. He had no idea how to even begin answering it and moved to the next question, with the same result. Question four was the first question he knew sort of how to answer, which did not bode well for him at all. Gritting his teeth, he went through the whole paper, solving as much as he could as quickly as he could.

It took him more than twice the time allotted for the test to sort of solve some questions. Feeling more discouraged by the second, he looked through the marking scheme to check his answers. The results were depressing, and his head was starting to hurt. He drank the rest of his coffee, which had gone cold.

“Are you done studying, senpai?” Kise asked. “I just finished.”

“If you’re done, you should go so we can work without being distracted,” Kasamatsu snapped.

“Don’t be angry at me if it’s not going well,” Kise said, looking hurt. He grabbed his backpack and left with a stiff goodbye.

“You don’t have to be a jerk, you know,” Kenma said disapprovingly. He disappeared into his bedroom before Kasamatsu could say anything. Irritated, stressing out, and now also feeling a little bad for snapping at Kise, Kasamatsu turned his focus back to his notes.

Some time later, he had to admit to himself that he wasn’t absorbing anything and that it was useless to stay awake and try to study more. Not feeling very good about his preparation, he cleared his notes and books away, and decided to head to bed. He set his alarm, and then sent Kise a text apologizing for snapping at him earlier.  

 

He ended up barely passing the midterm, which was more than what could be said about the majority of the class. The class average for the test was 35%, and the professor refused to adjust the marks on the basis that the students wouldn’t study properly if she gave them a mark boost. He resolved to avoid taking her classes again. Hopefully he would have a choice in the matter.

 

By the time his first round of midterms was over, they were well into October. Kasamatsu was completely drained, and couldn’t wait to relax a little before work piled up again. He walked into the apartment after his last midterm to find Kuroo and Kise in the kitchen, Kuroo wrapping a present, and Kise staring into the oven.

Kuroo glanced at him. “Hey. Finally done, eh? Just in time, too,” he said.

“I’m just glad it’s over for now. What’s in the oven?” Kasamatsu asked.

“I’m baking an apple pie,” Kuroo said. “Kise’s keeping an eye on it, or so he says.”

“What did you get for Kenma, senpai?” Kise asked.

“Shit, it’s his birthday?” Kasamatsu said. He had completely forgotten.

“It’s fine, you didn’t have to get him anything,” Kuroo said.

“If you want, you can say my present is from both of us,” Kise suggested.

“Tell me how much it was later, I’ll split the cost with you,” Kasamatsu told him, taking him up on the offer. “What did you get him?”

“A plushie from a series he likes.”

“Is this a surprise?” Kasamatsu asked Kuroo.

“Nah, he doesn’t like surprises very much. He knows to expect a pie and a present.”

“Can we help?” Kasamatsu asked. “Did you make dinner too?”

“Not yet. You sure you’re up to help and not too tired?”

“You can rest, senpai. I’ll help with dinner,” Kise said brightly.

Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes at him. “Can you cook?”

“Kuroo-san will tell me what to do,” Kise said airily.

“Right,” Kasamatsu said. “If you want help, let me know,” he offered.

“I was just going to sauté some vegetables and rice. Kise and I can handle it,” Kuroo said, pulling out vegetables from the fridge, the neatly-wrapped present set aside.

Kasamatsu shrugged and decided to take a shower. He was towelling himself dry when the fire alarm started blaring. Concerned, he wrapped the towel around his waist and ran to the kitchen. The kitchen was filled with smoke, and Kise was there alone, looking panicked. Kasamatsu quickly turned the stove off and tossed the pan with vegetables on fire into the sink, running water on them to put the fire out. The vegetables had turned into a black gob.

“Go open the windows!” he barked at Kise, switching on the kitchen vent and forcing the fire alarm silent.  

The fire under control and the vent on, he checked on the pie, which was just as well, because it looked like it was ready to be taken out. He turned the oven off and pulled out the pie so it could cool on the counter, and then headed to the living room where Kise had opened the windows.

“What the hell happened? Where’s Kuroo?” Kasamatsu asked.

“He stepped out to get some honey for the pie,” Kise said, still looking wide-eyed. Kasamatsu had just noticed that he was cradling his hand and was about to ask him if he was okay when the door opened and Kuroo walked in. He took in the scene: Kasamatsu in a towel with wet hair, and Kise looking scared.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Kise burned the vegetables and the fire alarm went off,” Kasamatsu told him.

Kuroo sighed as if he had been expecting something like this. “There’s frozen pizza I’ll throw in the oven. Did you take the pie out?”

Kise’s expression melted into horror. “I forgot!”

“Don’t worry, I took it out. It’s on the counter,” Kasamatsu said. Then he turned to Kise. “Did you burn your hand?” he asked, looking pointedly at his hand.

“I think so,” Kise said, holding it out. There was an angry red patch on his palm.

“Go run it under water. Not cold, okay?” Kuroo said, coming up to examine the hand. “Kasamatsu, could you go to the pharmacy and grab some burn cream? We don’t have any.”

“Yeah,” Kasamatsu said. To Kise, he said, “You heard what he said. Go take care of your hand. I’ll go for the cream after I put some clothes on.” He quickly threw sweatpants and a shirt on and headed to the pharmacy. After picking up the burn cream, he also picked up a box of popsicles when he passed by the frozen foods aisle and saw that they were on sale.

When he got back, Kise was sitting on the couch and scrolling through his phone, and Kuroo was still in the kitchen. From the smell it seemed like he had found some more vegetables to sauté. He deposited the popsicles in the freezer and glanced in the pan Kuroo had going.

“Found some more vegetables,” Kuroo said. “You mind helping dress his burn?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kasamatsu said. He had taken a first aid course in the summer, although he hadn’t thought Kise would be testing his knowledge. He dug out some gauze from the medicine cabinet; between him and Kuroo, the cabinet was stocked up with just about everything they could need in terms of over-the-counter medicines and first aid supplies.

“Alright, let’s get your hand dressed,” he said to Kise, who blinked at him and put down his phone. The area with the burn was still an angry red, and Kasamatsu quickly put the cream on it and wrapped it neatly with gauze. “You really need to be careful.”

Kise nodded. “I won’t be able to play until it’s better,” he said morosely. “But I guess that means I get more time to study,” he added, surprising Kasamatsu.

“Where was this desire to study when you were a first year?” Kasamatsu asked.

“I was young and stupid, then,” Kise said with a sniff.

“You’re still young and stupid,” Kasamatsu said seriously, his lips quirking when Kise pouted.

“Kasamatsu, stop flirting and come give me a hand,” Kuroo called from the kitchen.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and did as he was asked. They had just finished setting on the table when Kenma got back from his evening lecture. He dropped his bag on the carpet and headed straight to the table. He surveyed it for a few seconds, then looked questioningly at Kuroo.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your pie,” Kuroo said.

Apparently satisfied, Kenma headed to the bathroom. He was back in record time, freshly showered. They all sat down at the table and ate the sautéed vegetables, which were pretty good, in Kasamatsu’s opinion. Or maybe he was just hungry. Kuroo brought out the pie after everyone was done. He had stuck a candle into it.

“Happy birthday, Kenma,” he said, putting the pie in front of Kenma.

“Did you bake it?” Kenma asked, looking a little surprised.

“I did,” Kuroo said. “I hope it turned out okay,” he added a little nervously. To Kasamatsu’s surprise, Kenma got up and hugged him, burying his face in Kuroo’s chest. This was the most blatant display of affection Kasamatsu had ever seen from Kenma, and from the surprise on Kuroo’s face, it didn’t occur very often. Looking over at Kise, Kasamatsu saw a strange expression on his face that he couldn’t quite make out, but if he had to take a guess, he would say Kise looked a little wistful. Suddenly remembering one of Kise’s strange analogies about crushes in relationships, and how he was always friendly with Kuroo, he wondered if Kise had a crush on him. The thought didn’t sit well with him, for some reason.

 

Kasamatsu had decided that whoever said that university was supposed to be fun was a liar and didn’t know what they were talking about. He had just returned home after handing in a paper he had pulled an all-nighter for, and was just about ready to fall into bed. Unfortunately, he had forgotten it was a Friday, and that Kise came over on Friday evenings for his tutoring sessions with Kuroo. Most of the time he just slept over, which was why there was a sleeping bag for him in the apartment now.

“—I don’t think it’ll work but sure,” Kenma was saying when he entered the apartment to find him having a conversation with Kise. The two looked at him.

“Hi, senpai!” Kise said brightly. Kenma settled for half a wave.

“Hey,” Kasamatsu replied. “Are you staying over tonight?” he asked.

“Not this time,” Kise said. “Early practice tomorrow. Oh, before I go, I have some tickets to the amusement park. Do you want to go? Kenma and Kuroo-san said they’d go too.”

Kasamatsu frowned, wondering if this was Kise’s way of spending more time around Kuroo. Maybe he ought to talk to Kuroo about it.

“You don’t want to go?” Kise asked, his face falling a little.

“I’ll go,” he answered. He hadn’t been to the park yet, and he was being offered a free ticket. There really wasn’t any reason for him to not go.

“Great! We’ll go next Saturday,” Kise said happily, before grabbing his bag and heading out.

Kasamatsu saw Kenma give him a scrutinizing look as he went to the kitchen to grab some dinner. Kenma followed, and poured himself a glass of chocolate milk.

“Ryouta was telling me about a confession he got today,” Kenma suddenly said.

Kasamatsu put his plate of food in the microwave and turned to look at Kenma, a little surprised, but also strangely curious. “What did he say to—her?”

“He said he told her he already liked someone else,” Kenma said, staring at Kasamatsu as if studying his reaction. “Someone in university.”

This only served to give credence to his feeling that Kise had a crush on Kuroo, he thought, finding that he didn’t like the thought of being right about this. As to why Kenma was bringing this up, maybe he suspected it and was trying to figure out the truth.   

“Did he say who?” Kasamatsu asked, trying to guage how much Kenma knew.

Kenma stared at him for a few seconds, then shrugged. “No.” Kasamatsu felt like Kenma was holding something back. Maybe he really should talk to Kuroo.

 

“I told what Kise told me about the confession he got to Kasamatsu-san yesterday,” Kenma told Kuroo on Saturday while Kuroo was making them some pancakes.

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Are you meddling?”

Kenma shrugged. “He’s completely oblivious, so it doesn’t count as meddling.”

Kuroo hummed. “I’ll let it slide this time,” he said. “We both know you’d consider it meddling if I did it.”

“That’s because you’re obnoxious and obvious when you meddle.”

“Kenma, babe, that hurt.”

“Hmm.”

“Morning,” Kasamatsu said drowsily, rubbing his eyes as he walked in.

“Morning,” Kuroo said cheerfully. “Pancakes?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Kasamatsu said through a yawn. He seemed tired.

“You look tired,” Kuroo said out loud. “Trouble sleeping?”

“Not really,” Kasamatsu answered. “Don’t know why I’m so tired.”

“Hmm, maybe you slept too much,” Kuroo said, serving the pancakes. “There’s a board game night being hosted by the chemistry society, want to come with? There’s going to be free food.”

“Sure,” Kasamatsu said. Kuroo wasn’t sure if he’d even heard what he’d said. He drizzled some honey on Kenma’s pancakes and handed the plate over, then handed a plate to Kasamatsu.

After breakfast, Kuroo worked on a lab report that was due soon, which took him a lot longer than he had been expecting. It required a literature search that was proving disproportionately difficult because nobody seemed to have discussed what he needed to cite. Not wanting to give up despite his frustration, he stubbornly kept at it until he finally decided that a sketchy paper in a very unknown journal would have to do. By the time he was finished slapping together the rest of the report, it was time to go to game night.

“Eat some dinner before you leave,” Kenma called from the couch in the living room when he trudged out of their bedroom. “I made some noodles.”

Kuroo did as he was told, and then knocked on Kasamatsu’s door. Kasamatsu opened it a minute later.

“Time to go,” Kuroo said.

“Go where?” Kasamatsu asked with a frown.

“The game night you agreed to go to this morning,” Kuroo reminded him. “You gotta start listening to people when they talk to you.”

Kasamatsu looked a little sheepish. “Right. Let me change.”

He was out in a couple of minutes, and the two headed to campus. Kasamatsu glanced at Kenma in living room with a frown, probably because he was wondering why he wasn’t going with them. Kuroo decided not to say anything until asked. They were one of the earlier people to arrive, so they got their pick of games and food.

“Kuroo, you made it!” a friendly looking girl exclaimed. She looked curiously at Kasamatsu before offering him a wide smile. “Hi! I’m Takeda Momo. Are you the boyfriend? You’re not quite what I imagined.”

Kuroo snorted at Kasamatsu’s startled expression. “No, no, he’s not the boyfriend. He’s the dormmate, Kasamatsu Yukio.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Takeda said quickly, looking embarrassed. “Why don’t you two pick some games and food before it gets busy and everything’s gone?” she suggested.

Complying, Kuroo grabbed some games while Kasamatsu grabbed snacks, and they sat at a table, just as a few more people walked in. One of them spotted them and headed right over, waving.

“Kuroo, Kasamatsu!” he said enthusiastically, taking a seat. “It’s been a while, how’ve you been?”

Kuroo could see Kasamatsu struggling to remember who this guy was, so he decided to jump in and help him out a bit. He was curious to see where the conversation would go, since he knew Victor had a lot of unanswered questions for Kasamatsu, most of which were Kuroo’s fault.

“Hey, Vee. Don’t you miss him in residence?” he said, hoping that would be enough to jog Kasamatsu’s memory.

“Yeah,” Victor answered. “I haven’t seen you since last year. You living off campus?”

“Yeah,” Kasamatsu answered. “We live in the same apartment, actually,” he added, indicating Kuroo.

Victor raised his eyebrows and looked to Kuroo. “He never mentioned that. But I guess it never really came up. What did you end up specializing in?”

“Mechanical,” Kasamatsu answered, shuffling the cards while others also came over and sat down. Greetings were exchanged, and Kuroo could tell Kasamatsu had no idea who some of these people were. To be fair, he didn’t know who some of them were either, just that they had been in the same residence as them last year. Kasamatsu shuffled the cards and began dealing them to everyone.

“Now I remember,” one of the guys Kuroo couldn’t remember the name of said suddenly, looking at Kasamatsu. “You’re the one who I heard was dating a model last year. You still dating her?”

Kuroo watched Kasamatsu stare blankly at the guy as he processed the question. The blank look was replaced with one of complete bewilderment. “What?” was all he said. How eloquent.

The guy who had asked the question—Tanaka? Yamanaka?—frowned. “Victor mentioned you were dating a model when we were all in res last year?”

“I only said that because _Kuroo_ told me,” Victor said.

“Hey, I never said anything about anyone dating any models,” Kuroo said, raising his hands.

“Maybe not exactly in those words,” Victor conceded. “But that’s what I thought you were implying.”

“Nope. Not what I was implying,” Kuroo said.

“Okay…in any case,” Victor said, looking at Kasamatsu. “Did you date a model last year? If you did, are you still dating her?”

“I didn’t date a model last year,” Kasamatsu answered.

“But you know one?” Tanaka/Yamanaka asked.

“Yes.”

“Can you introduce her to us?” Victor asked eagerly. “Maybe she’ll want to date one of us.”

“I doubt that,” Kasamatsu said bluntly. Kuroo pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing.

“Why? Are you dating her?” a third guy asked.

“No, but I don’t think he’d want to go out with any of you,” Kasamatsu said.

“Oh, it’s a dude. Never mind then,” Victor said, a little disappointed. “Well, if your model friend has other model friends who are girls and they want to meet some guys, let us know.”

“Sure,” Kasamatsu said in a tone that clearly meant he was going to do no such thing.

 

“Senpai, wake up!” Kise’s loud voice roused Kasamatsu from sleep next Saturday morning. Kise was dressed and looked like he was ready to go. The sleeping bag was still on the floor of Kasamatsu’s room, where they always put it when Kise slept over since the apartment always got too cold to sleep in at night and they had taken to using space heaters in the bedrooms.

“Put the sleeping bag away,” he said, getting out of bed.

Kise wrinkled his nose but obeyed, and the sleeping bag was packed away when Kasamatsu got back from the washroom.

“Ready to go?” Kuroo asked when Kasamatsu headed to the living room with his backpack full of things they would and might need. He had even packed some clothes for Kise because he was sure Kise hadn’t thought of it. Sure enough, Kise wasn’t carrying a backpack.

“Yeah, just need some breakfast first,” Kasamatsu said, pouring out cereal from himself. “When did you wake up?” he asked Kise.

“ _Really_ early,” Kuroo said, amused. “He was so excited he got up at eight and then woke me up to demand breakfast. Kenma almost yelled, but then decided to go back to sleep without wasting his energy.”

“Why’d you bother them?” Kasamatsu scolded. “You could’ve just had cereal or something.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind,” Kuroo said. “I had promised Kenma crepes for breakfast anyway. I should wake him up.”

“Senpai, what’s in your bag?” Kise asked, eyeing the backpack Kasamatsu had dropped on a chair.

“Stuff we will need, and stuff we might need, like clothes,” Kasamatsu said, drinking the milk from his bowl.

“Oh, I didn’t pack any clothes,” Kise said.

“Don’t worry, I packed some for you.”

Kise blinked at him in surprise. “Thanks.” He dropped down on the chair next to Kasamatsu as they waited for Kenma to get ready. Kenma emerged soon, dressed comfortably, and took the only unoccupied chair at the table, and Kuroo served him up some breakfast. Once Kenma was done, they all headed out, Kuroo and Kasamatsu carrying backpacks with supplies. Kasamatsu felt like a mom.

Since they got to the park early, it wasn’t super busy, and the lines for the rides were still very small or nonexistent. They walked around for a bit and procured a couple of maps so they could split off if they wanted to. They walked past some games that could be played to win prizes, and Kuroo excitedly pointed at one of them.

“They’ve got science-themed prizes!” he said. “I’m going to give it a try.”

The game involved shooting amoeba-shaped bullets at cell-shaped targets. Kuroo turned out to be terrible at the game, all of his shots going wide. Disappointed, he handed the gun back to the person running the game.

“Let me try,” Kenma said, handing the person some money and taking the gun. He turned out to be just as good at it as Kuroo was bad, each one of his shots hitting a target. Once he was done, he looked at Kuroo and said, “Which one do you want?”

Beaming, Kuroo picked out a plush brain and tucked it under his arm. They headed towards another game where people had to climb a very unsteady rope ladder and press a button to win a gigantic plush from a very popular series that Kasamatsu knew Kenma was fond of. Kuroo played this game and very quickly won, much to the surprise of everyone who was watching. This time Kenma chose the prize, looking very funny carrying it because it was so large. Kasamatsu glanced at Kise, who looked wistfully at the plush Kenma was carrying. He turned to look at Kasamatsu.

“Senpai, why don’t you try it too?” he asked.

“But I don’t want one of those,” Kasamatsu said.

“If you win one, I’ll take it,” Kise returned.

“Why don’t you try it?”

“You’re smaller and lighter,” Kise said in a tone that suggested he was saying something very scientific. “It’ll be easier for you to climb.”

Kasamatsu smacked him lightly on the head. “By that logic, Kuroo shouldn’t have been able to win.”

Kise pouted and turned pleading eyes at him. “Senpai, please?”

Sighing, Kasamatsu relented. “Fine. I’ll try it, now stop making that face.”

“I want that yellow one,” Kise told him, pointing at a plush.

Shaking his head, Kasamatsu handed over some money to the guy running the game and walked over to the ladder Kuroo had used. He had noticed that a few of the others seemed a lot more unsteady that that one. He grabbed onto the rope and placed one foot on a rung. Then, bracing himself, he climbed up as quickly as he could, the ladder swaying unsteadily beneath him. He had one rung to go when the ladder flipped, but he saved himself from being thrown off. Slowly, he shifted his weight to make it flip again, bracing himself so he wouldn’t get thrown off when it flipped back. Back in his original position, he took the last step and pressed the button and jumped off. Everyone looked impressed.

“Can I get the yellow one? Thanks,” he told the guy at the front, and then handed the toy to Kise, who looked way too happy for someone who had just received a giant yellow plushie.

“Wow, you looked like a monkey clinging to that ladder,” Kuroo said, awed. Kasamatsu glared at him. 

“Maybe we should’ve played these last,” Kasamatsu said, seeing that they would now have to lug around the plushies the whole time. There was no point saying anything now, though, since they had already gone and won them.

“Oh well, too late now,” Kuroo said with a shrug. “What rides do you all want to go on?”

Having just partaken in a game he had had no wish to play, Kasamatsu decided that the first ride they would go on would be something he was interested in. He looked at the map and pointed at the biggest coaster in the park. “This one.”

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “Alright, lead the way.”

Kasamatsu did, and they ended up in the line for the coaster, which wasn’t bad, but there would be a short wait until their turn. He zoned the others out, staring at the coaster and listening to the excited—and sometimes fearful—screams of the riders. When he tuned back in, he caught the tail end of a conversation Kise and Kuroo were having, Kuroo telling Kise that something had been a good try and Kise bemoaning the fact that it hadn’t worked. Before he could join the conversation, it was their turn to get on the coaster. They dumped their stuff into the bins at the side, and got into the car.

Kasamatsu slid into his seat and excitedly buckled his belt. Kise climbed in next to him, and Kuroo and Kenma sat behind them. Kasamatsu thought Kise looked a little nervous.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m great,” Kise said brightly, smiling at him. Kasamatsu frowned and was about to ask him if he wanted to get off when the person checking the belts and safety bars gave the all clear and the ride started.

As the car climbed to the very top of the first and steepest plunge, Kasamatsu looked over at Kise and saw that his eyes were closed and he was clutching the safety bar so hard his knuckles had turned white.

“Kise, it’s fine,” Kasamatsu said reassuringly, facing the front again before the car took the dive. The rollercoaster was very fast, and Kasamatsu thoroughly enjoyed all the swooping sensations in his stomach, as well as the instinctive fear from the speed. Besides what sounded like a frightened squeak, he didn’t hear a sound from Kise the entire time. When the ride finally stopped, he jumped out of the car and watched Kise follow suit somewhat shakily.

“Are you okay?” he asked Kise when they had exited the ride.

“I’m fine,” he answered, disoriented.

“Right,” Kasamatsu said, frowning. “Here, drink some water,” he added, handing him a water bottle from his backpack.

Kise took it and drank, looking miserable. “You all can go ahead on the rides, I’m going to sit here for a bit,” he said, smiling weakly at them.

Kasamatsu felt his frown deepen. “You two go,” he told Kuroo and Kenma. “We’ll catch up with you.”

“Senpai, you can go too,” Kise protested.

“Shut it,” Kasamatsu said sharply. “You look like you’re going to hurl.”

Kuroo smiled at Kise sympathetically. “He’s right. Better that someone stays with you. We’ll probably be nearby, but just text me,” he said.

Kenma dumped his plush next to Kise’s. “Since you’re sitting,” he said by way of explanation, and the two left, walking towards another rollercoaster.

“You shouldn’t have gotten on if you get this scared,” Kasamatsu admonished. “Are you feeling sick?”

Kise shook his head, drinking some more water. “I’ll be okay in a few minutes. You really can go ahead, senpai.”

Kasamatsu sighed, swallowing back the urge to snap at him. “I’d be too worried to enjoy the ride,” he said, realizing it was true as he said it. “Waiting for a few minutes won’t kill me.”

To his surprise, Kise laughed. “Ever the concerned captain.”

Confused, Kasamatsu felt his frown return. “I’m not doing this as your former captain, Kise. I’m concerned for my friend.” While true, it didn’t feel quite right, but now was not the time to dwell on the reason behind that. Kise’s resulting smile only increased his confusion, because it was decidedly unhappy, and he had no idea why. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Let’s go, senpai. We shouldn’t keep them waiting,” Kise said, getting to his feet and handing back the water bottle. He grabbed Kenma and Kuroo’s stuff, so Kasamatsu had to carry his plush. Kasamatsu fired off a quick text to Kuroo, who quickly answered and told him where they were. They found them pretty easily, waiting in line to get ice cream.

“You want anything? I’m buying,” Kuroo offered.

“Nah it’s fine, I’ll get ours,” Kasamatsu said, prompting Kuroo to raise an eyebrow and exchange a glance with Kenma. Kasamatsu really needed to talk to him soon so he wouldn’t inadvertently encourage Kise.

The ice cream was very overpriced, in Kasamatsu’s opinion, but eating it improved Kise’s spirits significantly and they headed to another rollercoaster, Kise insisting that he’d be fine to ride it. Thankfully, he turned out to be right, and a repeat of the earlier performance was avoided.

They tried out almost all of the rides, and their last stop was the mini-arcade in a corner of the park. As soon as they walked in, Kise homed in on the basketball game.

“Senpai, we can totally beat the high score,” he said, looking at the game and picking the one with the highest high score.

“Maybe you can, but I haven’t really played since high school,” Kasamatsu reminded him, but chose another game anyway. He wondered if he still had it.

Turned out that he didn’t quite still have it, but he didn’t quite not either. His arms were a little tired with all the tossing but he had managed to beat the high score when he ran out of time. Kise, however, was still going fast, the score climbing very quickly. A small crowd had gathered around them, impressed. When Kise finally ran out of time, the score was as high as it could go. Everyone who had gathered clapped. Kise turned around and blinked.

“Thank you!” he said brightly to the people. “Anyone up for a game with me?” he asked. There was laughter from the spectators, and the crowd dispersed.

“Wow, you got rid of them fast,” Kuroo said, sounding impressed.

Kise shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s a useful skill to have when you’re popular,” he said.

Kasamatsu smacked him lightly on his head for the cheek. “Don’t encourage him, Kuroo, his head will fall off if it gets any bigger.”

Kise made a face at him. “C’mon senpai, let’s play something else,” he said, dragging Kasamatsu along, attracting stares. Kasamatsu supposed they made a funny picture, especially since he was still carrying around the giant plush from earlier.

“Air hockey!” Kise said excitedly. “I used to play with my sister.”

“Sure, let’s go,” Kasamatsu said with a shrug. He hadn’t played the game in years.

Which was why he was surprised when he beat Kise in a landslide. Kise looked so put out that Kasamatsu bit back a smile.

“Let’s play again,” he said. “That was luck.”

Kise looked like he didn’t believe him but agreed anyway. This time, Kasamatsu went easy on him, and didn’t beat him quite as soundly as the first time.

“How are you so good at this?” Kise asked in disbelief.

“Maybe you’re just really bad,” Kasamatsu said.

Kise hmphed but didn’t say anything, heading towards Kuroo, who was watching Kenma play a rhythm game.

“Hey,” Kuroo greeted them. “You can’t have spent all your credits already?” he said, eyebrows raised.

“No, we’re taking a break so Kise can sulk over me beating him at air hockey,” Kasamatsu said.

“I’m _not_ sulking,” Kise insisted.

Kuroo looked amused. “You want to play something with me while he sulks?” he asked Kasamatsu. Kise gave Kuroo a look of betrayal and moved to stand on Kenma’s other side, away from them.

They spent the rest of their credits exploring different games, and walked out of the arcade with a bag full of little prizes they had redeemed with all the tickets they had won, impressing the staff at the counter. Kasamatsu was half afraid they’d ban them from ever coming back after Kise had practically broken the basketball game.

Kasamatsu felt exhaustion set in as soon as he stepped inside the apartment. He dropped everything he was carrying on the rug in the living room and then dropped himself on the couch since Kenma had already laid claim to the washroom.

“I’m going to head out now,” Kise said, sipping cold water.

“What? It’s late, just go home tomorrow,” Kasamatsu said. “It’s not like you have somewhere to be in the morning.”

“You don’t mind?” Kise asked, looking a little taken aback.

“That’s never been a concern of yours before,” Kasamatsu observed.

“So, you don’t like me staying over?” Kise asked.

“You sleep in my room every time you come over, Kise. If I minded, I would’ve kicked you out a long time ago.”

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” Kise said. Kasamatsu couldn’t decide if he was being serious.

Kuroo, who had walked into the living room with clothes and a towel, snorted. “Don’t you have a drawer of clothes in his room? And a toothbrush and your own basket of toiletries in the washroom? And stuff you like to eat in the kitchen? You’re practically our fourth housemate,” he said. “You should share rent with us.”

Kise narrowed his eyes at Kuroo. “I’m not going to let you swindle me out of more money, Kuroo-san. You’re already charging me a lot for tutoring.”

“I’m impressed you caught on,” Kasamatsu commented.

“Senpai, I’m really not that stupid, you know,” Kise said. “Okay, I’m taking the shower next,” he added, getting up and darting into the washroom ahead of Kuroo. Raising his eyebrows, Kuroo plopped down on the couch next to Kasamatsu.

“So did you have fun?” Kuroo asked.

“Yeah, it was good,” Kasamatsu said truthfully.

“It seems like Kise had fun too.”

Kasamatsu steeled himself.

“What’s up?” Kuroo asked him curiously. “You look a little constipated.”

“I don’t think you should encourage Kise,” Kasamatsu said.

“What,” Kuroo said blankly. “Encourage him about what?”

“I think he has a crush on you,” Kasamatsu blurted out.

Kuroo stared at him for a full thirty seconds. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Opened it, closed it again. “You think Kise has a crush on _me_ ,” he finally said. It wasn’t a question. Before he could say anything else, Kenma padded into the room.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Kasamatsu thinks Kise has a crush on _me_ ,” Kuroo said, his voice caught between a laugh and a moan of disbelief. Kenma sighed in disgust and shook his head. Kasamatsu got the feeling that he was missing something very obvious.

“He really doesn’t,” Kenma said, addressing Kasamatsu.

“How do you know?” Kasamatsu asked.

Kenma and Kuroo had a silent conversation, which ended with Kenma shaking his head slightly.

“Trust us, we know,” was all Kuroo said. Kasamatsu must have looked unconvinced, because Kenma sighed again.

“He said it isn’t Kuroo,”he said.

Kasamatsu was relieved that it wasn’t Kuroo, probably because he didn’t want things to get awkward, or for Kise to be hurt. He also felt strangely jealous, maybe because Kise had confided in Kuroo and Kenma and not him, but that didn’t feel quite right.

“Is this a house meeting?” Kise asked, stepping out of the washroom and dumping his clothes in the laundry basket. “What are you all talking about?”

“Nothing important,” Kuroo said casually. “We’re just plotting your downfall.”

Kise narrowed his eyes at them. “Senpai would be on my side, wouldn’t you, senpai?”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” Kasamatsu said.

“Senpai!” Kise whined, then yawned.

“Go to sleep, you’re tired,” Kasamatsu said. “Do you want to eat?”

Kise shook his head. “I want a smoothie. Is there something I can make one with?” he asked them.

“We should have frozen fruit, yogurt, and milk,” Kuroo said.

“I want one too,” Kenma told Kuroo.

“I’ll make them, you can take a shower first,” Kasamatsu offered.

“Great,” Kuroo nodded, getting up and heading to the shower. While he showered, Kasamatsu fixed up some smoothies for all of them. He was pouring out the last one when Kuroo slunk into the kitchen with a towel around his shoulders.

“Oh hey, you made one for me too. Thanks!” he said, taking two of them. “Shower’s all yours.”

“Thanks,” Kasamatsu said, putting the other two smoothies in the fridge, planning to grab them after he showered. He went to his bedroom to get clothes to change into, and found Kise lying on one side of the bed, fast asleep, phone still in his hand. Kasamatsu shook his head, exasperated, and gathered his clothes quietly. He downed his smoothie after a quick shower, then brushed his teeth and headed to his room to sleep, since he was finding it hard to keep his eyes open.

 

 

The semester progressed, and they were all swamped in assignments and tests again. Kasamatsu was convinced the university actually wanted them to fail their classes so they had to retake them, and had decided that the best way to make that happen was by stressing them all out to the point of breaking. The dark circles were back with a vengeance, and Kasamatsu was sure they were all slowly but surely becoming zombies. Even Kise looked more tired than he ever had when he came over to study.

Kasamatsu struggled in some of his classes, particularly the one with the insanely hard professor. His second and third midterms in that class, while better than the first one, weren’t good enough to bring his grade up to more than a C. He had ended up making a spreadsheet for all his classes, and was stressing out staring at it one evening two weeks before classes ended.

“You checked your exam timetable yet?” Kuroo asked as he sat down with a plate of pasta.

“Oh, is it out?” Kasamatsu said, tearing his eyes away from the spreadsheet. He logged into the school website and pulled up the timetable, letting out a groan. “I’ve got four exams in two days, then a ten day break, and then two exams in a row.”

“That sucks,” Kuroo said sympathetically. “I’ve got two exams on one day and then one on each day for the next three days. I’ll be done way earlier than you.”

“You going home right after your exams end?”

“Nah, Kenma’s last exam is on the last day so I’m going to stay with him. I’ll take over cooking and coffee runs once I’m done so you guys won’t have to worry. Also it works out because Kise’s exams are coming up after ours, and I can help him more once I finish.”

Kasamatsu hummed. “He really is serious about studying, then?”

“Yeah. He’s actually been getting decent grades. He’s no genius, but he can get good grades once he puts in the effort and gets a little help.”

“I still haven’t figured out why he’s become so interested when he wasn’t before,” Kasamatsu said, hoping Kuroo would finally give him an answer. Kuroo just gave him a cryptic smile. Looked like he was going to have to wait some more for a good answer.

 

 

Exam season arrived, and Kasamatsu’s stress meter hit danger levels. Kuroo wasn’t faring any better, if his stress-fueled cramming the night before his first exam was anything to go by. Kenma had practically had to confiscate his books and drag him to bed so he could get some rest. It had been a funny sight.

Kasamatsu’s first exam was engineering math, and he really needed to do well on it to end up with a B. Anything higher than that was, frankly, impossible. The professor had made sure of that when writing the midterms.

He went into the exam, expecting the worst, and was shocked when he could actually answer the questions on the paper. He worked quickly, feeling very disconcerted and wondering if he was doing something wrong. He walked out of the exam feeling very strange. He thought he had done well, but he couldn’t help wondering if there was a catch. The professor had done nothing to indicate that their exam would be easier than the midterms.

Shaking the feeling off, he went back home to grab a bite to eat before his next exam, which was scheduled to start at six in the evening. He really wanted a nap but was scared he wouldn’t wake up on time if he fell asleep now.

Eating had been the plan, but he found that he didn’t have much of an appetite so he forced himself to have a banana instead of a meal. He sat down on the couch to try to relax for a bit when his phone buzzed. Kise was calling him.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Senpai!” Kise said cheerfully. “Good luck on your exams today.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you ready for it?”

“More or less. Nothing I can do now anyway,” Kasamatsu said.

“I’m sure you’ll do great! When’s the exam?”

“In a couple of hours.”

“Okay. Do you need to study or are you just relaxing?”

“Just relaxing. Or trying to, anyway.”

Kise hummed, and then started telling him about the basketball club and school in general. Kasamatsu felt himself start to relax, listening to Kise talk and offering responses when they were appropriate. He ended up spending an hour on the phone, mostly just listening.

“Okay, senpai, I should go do my homework. Good luck,” Kise said.

“Yeah, you do that. And Kise? Thanks for calling,” Kasamatsu said.

 

 

With four exams down, and a fairly long break ahead of him, Kasamatsu was very tempted to relax, but he knew that he couldn’t afford to be complacent. His last two exams were for pretty difficult classes, and he needed all the time he could get to study for them. He would start studying the next day.

Two days later, he still hadn’t started, and he knew he was digging himself a hole, but he had no motivation. He was lying on the couch thinking about studying when Kuroo walked in. “Shouldn’t you be studying?” he asked tiredly. He’d written his last exam the day before, and was finally free until the next semester started.

“I really should,” Kasamatsu agreed.

“I feel you. Kise’s coming over to study today. You can’t look lazy in front of him,” Kuroo said, grinning.

“You sure you’ve got the energy to deal with him? You look like you could pass out any minute.”

Kuroo shrugged. “I’m going to take a nap before he gets here, so I’ll be fine. I cooked earlier, so help yourself when you’re hungry.”

“Thanks,” Kasamatsu said, pushing himself up from the couch. He really did need to start studying. He reluctantly got his books and spread them out on the table. Then decided that he would take a break before starting. The break turned into a nap which he didn’t wake up from until Kise’s loud voice announced his arrival.

“Oh, senpai, did I wake you up?” he said, when Kasamatsu sat up and worked a crick in his neck.

“It’s fine,” Kasamatsu said, stifling a yawn. “I wasn’t supposed to fall asleep anyway.”

“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty,” Kuroo said. “Time to study.”

“Where’s Kenma?” Kise asked.

“Holed up in the bedroom studying. Don’t be too loud or he’ll be annoyed at  you,” Kuroo said. “Right, let’s get started. It’s English today, right?”

Kise nodded and settled in at the table. Kasamatsu joined them there and started going through problem sets for thermodynamics. Apparently, he had forgotten the most basic things he had learned in the class. Now he wondered if he had ever actually learned them at all. It took him a disappointingly long time to go through a single set.

“Senpai, maybe you should take a break,” Kise suggested, probably prompted by the frustrated sounds Kasamatsu was making.

Biting back the urge to snap, he took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’ll get us some fruit bowls.” Cutting the fruit was good stress-relief.

“Here you go,” he said, putting the bowls down on the table.

“Oh, nice, there are cherries,” Kise said, plucking one out and eating it. “Senpai, can I have some of yours?”

Kasamatsu shook his head but pushed his bowl towards him. “Here,” he said. He saw Kuroo roll his eyes.

“Alright, back to work,” Kuroo said.

“Oh yeah, before we start, can I stay over this weekend? There’s no practice because exams are coming up,” Kise asked.

“Sure,” Kasamatsu said. “I’ll get the quilt out, it’s been getting cold. It should be big enough for both of us.”

“Wait, hold up,” Kuroo said. “‘It should be big enough for both of us’? What happened to the sleeping bag?”

Kasamatsu shrugged. “The bed is big enough, and it’s a lot more comfortable than a sleeping bag. And I don’t have enough quilts for two different beds.”

“Oh my god,” Kuroo said. Kasamatsu felt like he was holding something back. “Right, time to work. For real, this time.”

 

 

“You will not believe what I found out today,” Kuroo said to Kenma that night as they wound down before bed. Kenma was leaning against him, playing a game, and he was reading a book.

“What?” Kenma asked, not looking up from the game.

“Kise and Kasamatsu have been sharing Kasamatsu’s bed,” he said. “I don’t even know when this development occurred.”

“Oh, the day we went to the amusement park,” Kenma said promptly.

“Kenma! You already knew?” Kuroo said, betrayed.

Kenma paused his game and put it down. “Ryouta freaked out about it and told me the next day. You’ve already lost the bet. Kasamatsu-san still has no clue.”

Kuroo made a face. “I may have lost, but that doesn’t mean you’ve won. I’m thinking he’s never going to figure it out without help.” Then, seeing Kenma’s smirk, he added, “I’m not going to meddle.”

“We’ll see,” Kenma said, poking his cheek. “Let’s sleep.”

“But I want to read some more.”

“Read tomorrow.”

“You can sleep, I’ll go read in the living room.”

Kenma narrowed his eyes at Kuroo, who looked at him expectantly. He sighed. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Say what?” Kuroo asked, the picture of innocence.

“You’re warm,” Kenma said flatly.

“Aww, Kenma, if you wanted to cuddle, you just had to say so,” Kuroo said, clutching his chest.

“Come on, you big dork,” Kenma said, lips quirking slightly.  

**Author's Note:**

> Words included: jars, peach, dime, goosey, fox, tweed, ox, vis, eel, saned, zips, tike, damn, nori, quays, ee, gob, quilts


End file.
